I wonder if Xu Zhu getting to XuanDu and performing his palm move before the blood even hits the floor is some kind of record for speed feats in JY novels.

Unfortunately we still have DFBB moving so fast that he has the time to move forward the length of a sword and then retreat all the way back in the time it takes for LHC to unleash the fastest stab he can. I wouldn't mind XZ holding the speed record.

Jiumozhi knew that fighting against this little monk will just be a one-sided battle, it would be laughable if he did not win, however since the circumstances is such he cannot avoid the fight, at once he wave his palms and launch his attack, his palm wind contains light fluttering sound, his posture and technique is precisely the first-class martial arts of [Prajna Palm].

[Skanda Palm] is the basic foundation martial arts of Shaolin, when a Shaolin disciple formally become an apprentice to a master, they will first learn [Luohan Fists] followed by [Skanda Palm]. Nevertheless [Prajna Palm] is one of the most obscure martial arts, practitioners have to abide the sequence strictly and progress from [Skanda Palm] to [Prajna Palm], this would normally require 30 to 40 years of effort. [Prajna Palm] is one of the 72 supreme consummate skill of Shaolin, practitioners can train this skill perpetually and their palm strength would be increasingly stronger as they train, their palm moves becoming more pure, it can be said there is no end to learning, eventually they would reach the last palm move "The Bottom Of Emptiness", ever since the creation of [Prajna Palm], of all the senior monks in Shaolin who train in this skill very few manage to master the last move. Throughout Shaolin's history, there has never been a case of using [Skanda Palm] to exchange blows with [Prajna Palm]. Both skills are at the extreme of martial arts, one is deep and mythical, the other shallow and crude, senior monks who mastered [Prajna Palm] will never fight with junior monks who only know [Skanda Palm], even for sparing among master and disciple, if the master use [Prajna Palm], then the disciple would have to use [Dharma Palm], [Snow Mountain Palm] or [Thousand Hands Of Rulai] to trade moves.

Xu Zhu saw the incoming palm move, he slanted his body to avoid and push out with both palms, it is a move from [Skanda Palm] known as "The Way To Protect Monastery Gate", the move is mediocre, however the power behind it is vigorous and forceful.

Jiumozhi spin his body, his sleeves revolves and he execute [Mendicant Palm]. Xu Zhu slanted his body to avoid, Jiumozhi had anticipated Xu Zhu's dodging position, he already launch his [Vajra Fists], with a 'Peng' sound he hit Xu Zhu's shoulder. Xu Zhu staggered and retreat 2 steps. Jiumozhi laugh and said: "Little monk are you convinced?" he presumed he had shattered Xu Zhu's shoulder bone with that fist. Unexpectedly Xu Zhu was protected by [Pure Energy of Northern Darkness], however he still felt his shoulder aching, he straighten his body, his palm moving from left to right and execute the move "Ganges River Flowing To Sea", both palms carried torrents of energy, it is akin to widespread flood.

Jiumozhi saw his fist had no effect on Xu Zhu, moreover when Xu Zhu's palm move arrive its power is profound and heavy, he cannot help but be startled, he raised his palm to block, his body also followed, both his legs kick out repeated, in a split second he had kicked 6 times, every move landed on Xu Zhu's solar plexus, its precisely one of the 72 supreme consummate skill of Shaolin, [Shadowing Kick], as one leg kicks out, the second leg will arrive with the shadow, the second kick will take shape from the shadow, the third kick will follow the shadow again and arrive as well, only until the 6th kick did Xu Zhu have time to shift his body to avoid.

Jiumozhi did not allow him to rest, he launch two fingers in succession, there is 'Chi Chi' sound, its [Tara Finger]. Xu Zhu initiate a bow-drawing stance and countered with his fists, it is a move from [Luohan Fists] known as 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart'. This fist technique is extremely shallow and superficial, however when powered by [Minor Formless Skill], unexpectedly it neutralize [Tara Finger]'s rock shattering finger force and stop it midway.

Jiumozhi had the intention to show off, after launching [Tara Finger] he immediately switch move and made a cutting move with his arm, although he is empty-handed but the technique is [Wood Burning Sabre Skill]. To master this set of sabre skill the practitioner have to chop 81 times at a dry piece of wood swiftly, the sabre edge should not damage the wood at all, however the heat emitted by the sabre must ignite the wood and set it on fire, Xiao Feng's teacher Master XuanKu is an expert in this skill, after XuanKu pass away, no one in the temple is capable of such skill. [Wood Burning Sabre Skill] is meant to be use with a single sabre, it is completely different from the void palm force of Jiumozhi's [Blazing Sabre Skill] which he employed in TianLong Monastery. Currently Jiumozhi is using his palm like the sabre edge, he chop and hack fiercely, the technique and move is entirely Shaolin's martial art. As his sabre chop landed, there is a 'Bo' sound, Xu Zhu's right arm was hit. Xu Zhu shout out: "Very fast!" he send out his right fist, as his fist arrive midway his right arm was hit by another sabre move. Jiumozhi poured his internal energy into the palm, the palm chop is no different from steel blade, it can slice or break an arm, unexpectedly Xu Zhu was completely unharmed even after sustaining two sabre chop, on the contrary Jiumozhi felt pain from his palm.

Jiumozhi was startled, thoughts ran through his mind: "Even if this little monk mastered [Golden Bell Shade] or [Iron Garment Skill], there is no way he can resist my heavy palm move, what is the reason? Ah, yes, he must be wearing some precious protective vest." as he thought of it, he immediately focus his attacks on Xu Zhu's face and head, [Unfix Great Wisdom Finger], [Ridding Worry Finger], [Nirvana Claw], [Indra Claw], he execute 6 to 7 Shaolin's divine skills in succession, all of them targeting Xu Zhu's eyes or throat.

Under the high-speed attacks from Jiumozhi, Xu Zhu is at a loss on how to resist, he can only move back and retreat, he can't even use his [Skanda Palm] anymore, he punch out repeatedly, all of them the same move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', every punch forced Jiumozhi to move back half chi, thus due to this half chi, all different kinds of marvellous techniques and moves executed by Jiumozhi are rendered useless as they cannot reach Xu Zhu's body.

In a short period of time Jiumozhi execute another 6 different Shaolin's supreme consummate skills, the crowd of Shaolin monks were dazzled by the display, they thought: "He claims to have mastered all 72 supreme consummate skills of Shaolin, he might not necessarily know all 72 skills, but it seems he know at least 30 to 40 of them." nevertheless Xu Zhu only countered with [Luohan Fists], under the lightning fast attacks of Jiumozhi he had no chance to switch moves, Xu Zhu execute the move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart' and another 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', again and again he only relied on the move 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart', the fist technique is awkward and clumsy, even common martial arts practitioner will inevitably laugh out loud. However the inner strength within 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart' kept increasing continuously, the distance between both of them gradually grew further, Jiumozhi's finger and claw moves are 1 chi away from Xu Zhu.

Suddenly Jiumozhi lowered his right palm, he flip his palm and slap Xu Zhu's wrist. Xu Zhu's right arm arrive horizontally, Jiumozhi's plam interlinked with Xu Zhu's wrist, unexpectedly Jiumozhi felt a severe shock in his arm, immediately after his arm ached and felt numb, he quickly channelled [Minor Formless Skill] to resist, unexpectedly it was neutralized by the opposing [Minor Formless Skill] contain within the [Arm Sealing Acupoints] technique. Jiumozhi shock is really no small matter, he burst out in cold sweats, he recalled the past events at Suzhou's Mantuo Manor: that day Jiumozhi captured DuanYu and arrive at Jiangnan, he wanted to learn [Six Meridians Divine Sword] of Dali's Duan family as well as pry into the martial arts collections within Murong family's ‘Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment’. Ah Zhu and Ah Bi arranged a feast and entertained Jiumozhi, Duan Yu, Guo Yanzhi and Cui BaiQuan. Ah Bi played a zither in the Water Pavilion and the floor suddenly flip over, Duan Yu, Ah Zhu and Ah Bi drop onto a small boat underneath the Water Pavilion. Three of them row the boat and escape quickly, Jiumozhi did not know how to row a boat and was unable to catch up with them. In his rage he coerce a servant of Murong family to guide him to Canhe Manor, however the servant did not succumb and refuse to guide him. Jiumozhi knew Canhe Manor is constructed in the deepest part of Lake Tai's cloudy waters, lotus and water caltrops move irregularly, it is extremely difficult to locate. He hatched a plan and captured an official in Suzhou's capital town, he press a steel sabre at the official's neck and force him to lead the way. With a steel sabre at his neck, the official obediently guide Jiumozhi. Jiumozhi gave him 10 silvers and ordered him to leave, he disembark and hid within the underbrush, he wait until midnight before entering the manor.

Sure enough, the Manor's owner was not in, he went to the study room and began searching, however he only found <<The Thirteen Confucian Classics>>, <<Annals Of Palace Origins>>, <<Integrated Classics Of Sages>> and various scholar books, it was not what he wanted. In the afternoon of the 2nd day, he saw a big boat arriving, the owner of the boat is a good-looking upper-class lady, she led 10 sword bearing maids and charge aggressively into the Manor. When the Manor servants saw her they address her as "maternal uncle's wife", the boats men and male workers all address her as "Madam Wang". He heard Madam Wang asking: "Where is my young lady? Ask her to come out quickly!" "Where is Ah Zhu and Ah Bi, those two crafty servants, damn where did they go?" she instructed the maids under her: "Quickly go seize Ah Zhu and Ah Bi, chop off their right hand first before interrogating them." she ask again: "Has your young master return? Is he together with our young miss?" she did not wait for a reply and start slapping people heavily, no matter male servants or maids, she simply slap anyone she come across. Jiumozhi saw her martial art is not very good, but it is more than sufficient to deal with the bunch of servants.

Jiumozhi expect she would use the boat to return after her search, thus he thought of hitching along and return back to dry land, he quietly stroll to the boat side, when no one was around he leap lightly and landed on the boat's rear, he hid himself in a corner. Sure enough, no more than two hours later, Madam Wang led her maids into the boat and sail to the middle of the lake. Madam Wang did not find her person, she slap the desk and knock the stools, swore and curse in anger, nobody dare to talk to her.

The big boat sailed for a couple of hours and anchored at a pier outside the Water Manor. Jiumozhi wait for the sky to turn dark before entering the Manor. It is difficult to search for things in the darkness, just before the lake he saw an exquisite small house, he listen attentively, there is no one in the house, he went up the 2nd floor, he push the window lightly and jump into the room. The interior was pitch-black, there was no light at all, he found an uninhabited room and slept on the floor.

While sleeping, he suddenly heard a rustling noise downstairs, someone step on some dry grass. Jiumozhi woke up and peered out through a small crack in the window frame, he heard light footsteps, someone is going upstairs. This person stepped on the stairs with gentle force, it is almost noiseless, it goes to show his brilliant inner power. Jiumozhi don't dare to make any noise, he saw a flame torch, the person's footstep is strangely quick, in an instant he entered the neighbouring room, the person use the torch to light a candle on the table. He heard a few "Ta Ta" sound, it seems to be some kind of mechanism turning, afterwards he heard a "Ya" sound, the sound of a door being pushed open. Jiumozhi look through a small crack in the wooden partition, he saw a small hole opening up in the wall of the adjacent room, there is a door on the hole, the door is painted like the walls, it is difficult to detect once it is closed. Jiumozhi look at the hole, it is a hidden room, rows of cabinet lined up the room, layers upon layers, words are carved into the doors of every cabinet and painted blue, all of them the same words: "Jade Cave of Langhuan". Jiumozhi knew "Langhuan" is a mythical place where celestial beings kept their books, he had a thought, could it be these cabinets stored precious martial art manuals?

Jiumozhi saw the person merely look at the bookcase with a candlestick in hand. This person is wearing cyan robe, his long hair draped over his shoulder, his hair grizzled, apparently he is quite old. Jiumozhi muttered inwardly: "This person is old, inner power excellent, i should be able to deduce his identity." he saw the person move to a cabinet, the word "Jade Cave of Langhuan" is written horizontally on the cabinet's door, on the bottom part of the door there is two rows of words, "Green ox heading west, purple cloud arriving from east", the words are painted green, Jiumozhi pondered: "Green ox and purple cloud, it seems to be related to Laozi's Taoist teachings, if the cabinet contain <<Book of Tao>>, <<Nanhua scripture>> ,<<Baopuzi>> or some other Taoist books, then i won't bother anymore."

The person open up the cabinet door and took out an entire stacks of account books and place them on the desk, there are around 7-8 books, the corner of the books are rolled up, it appears they are rather old. The person lean his body to the side, Jiumozhi could see his appearance clearly, he is around 60 to 70 years old, face flat and smooth, skin white and fair, at once a person came to his mind: "This person is so old, yet he is able to maintain the face of a child, could he be the one famed for [Great Energy Dissolving Skill], Ding ChunQiu?" Jiumozhi held his breath and concentrate, he don't dare to move the slightest bit.

The old man open up one of the books, he studied the contents diligently, he mumbled and calculate as he trace the contents with his finger, he inhaled and exhaled, it seems he is practicing some kind of internal energy. After a long time Jiumozhi heard a female voice downstairs: "Father, is that you?" The old man exhaled, his pair of hands clasping his belly, he finally replied: "Yes, you can come up!" there is the sound of footsteps, a person rush up the stairs, the person is Madam Wang. Jiumozhi was flabbergasted: "So this old man is senior Wang, he is not Ding ChunQiu."

Madam Wang walk towards the old man and said: "Father, you are practicing [Minor Formless Skill] again? Just take these books, they are brought here by you and mother anyway, without your guidance YuYan cannot understand them." when Jiumozhi heard the phrase [Minor Formless Skill], he knew it is an extremely powerful Taoist's internal energy method, at once he focus and paid attention.

The old man said: "If i take these books and can't hide them properly, most likely they will be stolen by my worthless disciples, it is better to just leave them here. Where did YuYan go?" Madam Wang sat down on a chair beside the old man and said: "There is an old monk from Shaolin called XuanBei, he was killed in Dali, the mortal wound is precisely his famed supreme consummate skill, i think it is called [Great Skanda Pestle], Shaolin firmly insist that the killer must be Gusu Murong. Fu-er was wrongly accused by these people, he took a few of his expert servants and went to Shaolin to resolve this matter. YuYan is worried about Fu-er and followed him as well." the old man shake his head and said: "With Murong Fu tiny amount of martial arts, how can he kill that baldy XuanBei?"

Madam Wang said: "Father, you killed XuanBei, correct?" the old man said: "No! Why would i kill Shaolin monks?" Madam Wang said: "Fu-er's father died early, unexpectedly he need YuYan to guide him in martial arts, he really lack any manly spirit, it is really shameful! Father, please teach him." the old man shake his head and said: "He thinks his family's [Star Shifting Movement] skill is amazing, he look down on XingXiu Sect and refuse to join, why should i teach him martial arts?"

When Jiumozhi heard it, he finally realize this old man is Ding ChunQiu.

Madam Wang is the daughter of Li QiuShui and Wu YaZi, after the girl was born, both of them lived at Mount WuLiang, the love between these pair of martial brother and sister was strong, from time to time they practice sword moves under the moon, occasionally they compose poetry by the flowers, their joy overflowing. However Wu YaZi delve into zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, medicine, divination, horoscope, etc, he had to attend to a wide range of affairs, inevitably he start to drift away from Li QiuShui. Li QiuShui kidnap many handsome youngsters and brought them into the cave, she flirt and tease them openly, her intention is to make Wu YaZi pay attention to her, unexpectedly Wu YaZi loathe her and left in anger. Li QiuShui was extremely disappointed, thus she seduced Wu YaZi second disciple, Ding ChunQiu. Unexpectedly Ding ChunQiu revolt and manage to beat Wu YaZi off a cliff, his life and death unknown. Eventually both Ding and Li took all the manuals hidden in "Jade Cave of Langhuan", as well as Li QiuShui's daughter Li QingLuo, and move to Suzhou. To avoid any gossips, Li QiuShui ordered her daughter to address Ding ChunQiu as father, Madam Wang start calling him father from childhood, this became a habit and when she grew up she did not bother to correct herself anymore. Naturally Jiumozhi is not aware of these past events, he assume Ding ChunQiu is Madam Wang's father.

Madam Wang said: "Father, teach me this [Minor Formless Skill] so that i may impart it to YuYan in the future." Ding ChunQiu said: "Not good! This skill is extremely difficult to train, even i can't master it properly. I will teach you the mnemonics to this skill, you and YuYan can practice this skill slowly at your own pace. En, YuYan is simply too good to her cousin, i am not at ease." he took a book from the stacks of books on the desk and place it in his bosom.

Ding ChunQiu open up another book and said: "This set of internal energy method, our martial grandfather only impart it to your mother, my master and martial aunt did not learn it. Martial grandfather wrote down the method to training this internal energy and made it look like an accounting ledger. 'New year day, received 9 qian and 8 fen as payment', this means inhale lightly 9 times on the 1st day, gather your breath 8 times. 'Hand over 8 qian and 7 fen as payment', this means exhale lightly 8 times, gather your breath 7 times. 'Second day of new year, received 8 qian and 9 fen as payment, bought one pig lung, two pig intestines, one pig heart', this means on the 2nd day after gathering your breath, circulate it once in the lungs, twice in the intestines, once in the heart...."

Madam Wang laugh and said: "Martial grandfather is really amusing, he rewrote his heart, lungs and intestines as pig heart, pig lungs and pig intestines." Ding ChunQiu smile and said: "By writing this way, even if the book fall into someone else hands, they will assume it is just an accounting bill for market purchase, they won't know it is a method for practicing internal energy. Read these few words again." Madam Wang recited: "Xin, ren, zhen, yun, chun, shen...." Ding ChunQiu said: "Read it again, you must read fast!" Madam Wang recited: "Gu, fu, mu, mu, sui, ku, wu...." Ding ChunQiu said: "Read it in reverse, you must do it in a single breath, you must not stop in-between." Madam Wang read seven oblique tone in succession, her breath was hindered, eventually she break out in laughter and lean over on the desk.

Ding ChunQiu said: "No need to hurry, read for two hours each day, once you are proficient in reciting the mnemonics forward and backward, you can then follow the method prescribed in the book to practice, i will teach you again once you complete these two books." both of them engage in some idle gossips, finally Madam Wang went down the stairs and left.

When Ding ChunQiu finish practicing, he put the books back into the cabinet, he extinguish the candle flame and left the room. Jiumozhi wait until the sound of Ding ChunQiu footsteps had gone far, when no one was around he finally grope his way towards the adjacent room, he entered the hidden room and saw many cabinets with the phrase "Jade Cave of Langhuan", he pondered: "I will take just [Minor Formless Skill]. They wrote it as pig heart and pig intestines, i really don't know what kind of things they would write for other martial arts, if i take the other books i will just learn the wrong skills." thus he open the cabinet door for "Green ox heading west" and put all the books inside his bosom, he jump over the wall and left. There is a boat by the coast, he hide in the rear cabin, he don't know how to steer this big boat, moreover he is afraid of alerting Madam Wang with regards to the loss of [Minor Formless Skill] manuals, hence he wait patiently. Till the third day, someone finally steered the boat to Suzhou city for some business transactions. He hid in the cargo hold and wait for the boat to reach shore, when the boatman and servants disembarked he finally left the boat and went back to his own place.

He count the number of books, there are seven in total, one of the book was taken by Ding ChunQiu, hence he cannot study the martial art completely. One, two, three, four, etc, are written on the book's title, he saw the 7th volume is missing, he knew Ding ChunQiu must have taken the 7th book. He open up the first book, a few sentences are written in the first page:

"Since ancient times there are people who are adept in the way of Tao, they have subtle understandings, their knowledge profound, it is not something an average person can comprehend. Because they cannot understand a person, they can only describe with great difficulty: "He is cautious and timid, akin to stepping on thin ice to cross a river during winter; He is vigilant and on guard, he seems to be guarding against an invasion of neighbouring country; He is respectful and solemn, as if he is a guest of a banquet; He operates freely and easily, like an ice melting slowly; He is simple and unsophisticated, akin to raw material without any prior processing; He is broad and open-minded, like the deep hidden valley; He is rich and charitable, like the turbulent muddy water. Who can calm the turbulent muddy water, and make it clear and pure again? Who can change the quiet, and make them alive again? A person who maintains this "Tao" cannot be complacent. Because he is never complacent, he is able to remove the old and replace with new."

Jiumozhi thought for a long time but he still don't understand the underlying meaning. He flip to the second page, line after line there are all about certain month and day, how much qian and how much fen, how many pig heart to buy, etc, at once he burnt some incense and regulate his breathing quietly, he followed the instructions in the book to practice. Initially he did not detect any change, he patiently regulate his breathing and continue to circulate it in his meridians, after a few months, he gradually felt his spirit become clearer and his breathing become smoother, his internal energy had increased greatly.

He continued to make great effort for several more months, he felt his inner breath circulate around more places. After Tubo's Tantric Buddhist Master NingMaPai instructed him in the divine [Blazing Sabre Skill], he wiped out all the shady sects in Tubo and established his might in the west, his skills and knowledge had already reach an extremely high level, however as he train [Minor Formless Skill], he felt he had step into another new territory of martial arts study.

Buddhist's martial arts focus on the aspect of "emptiness", Taoist's internal energy is based on "unhindered", "unobstructed", "unhurried", "no difference in state", both martial arts achieve the same ends through different means, they are extremely similar once trained to an extremely high level, however entry-level technique and method are vastly different.

Jiumozhi was engrossed in practicing [Minor Formless Skill], he forge ahead relentlessly and studied from day till night. He studied the 6th and 8th volume and deduced that the missing 7th volume is related to "Chong meridian", "Dai meridian ", "Yang meridian ", "Yin meridian", the extraordinary meridians, he had already complete the training for all 12 common meridians, the 8th volume contains "Yang qiao", "Yin qiao", as well as the most important "Ren meridian", "Du meridian", etc, another four extraordinary meridian, the missing method to training these extraordinary meridians must be virtually the same as others, by extrapolating from all seven volumes he possess he should be able to derive the training method for the missing four extraordinary meridians.

When he return to Tubo, he followed the training formula and mastered the four extraordinary meridians depicted in the 8th volume, afterwards he backtrack and start to train the missing four extraordinary meridians for the 7th volume, unexpectedly the meridians clogged up and was obstructed, fortunately the "Chong meridian" and "Dai meridian" are not commonly use, he was not too worried, he assume once he mastered all 16 common and extraordinary meridians, the remaining four extraordinary meridians will follow naturally and clear up, by then he would be able to circulate through them.

He manage to obtain news that Beggar Clan had issued a challenge to Shaolin to fight for the title of leader of Central Plains martial art fraternity. Martial art experts gathering together in Central Plains is highly unfavourable for Tubo. He did not know all 72 supreme consummate skills of Shaolin but after mastering [Minor Formless Skill] his internal energy had advanced greatly from the time he challenged TiangLong Monastery and single-handedly defeat Duan family's [Six Meridians Divine Sword] with his divine [Blazing Sabre Skill], by using [Minor Formless Skill] as the base to power Shaolin's supreme consummate skills he should be able to defeat all the monks at Shaolin and make them suffer a crushing defeat. Martial art experts of Central Plains won't be able to form an alliance and he would achieve a glorious deed for Tubo, benefiting his title as Grand Tutor of Tubo.

Jiumozhi went to Shaolin and secretly eavesdrop outside the main hall of the Buddhist temple, he heard the martial arts discussion between abbot XuanCi, ShenShan, GuanXin and the rest of the senior monks, he heard XuanCi comment that hard/gentle martial arts oppose each other, thus [Demon Subduing Palm] cannot be practice together with [Mohe Finger], Jiumozhi executed his lightness martial arts and rush outside the temple's gate, he use internal energy to transmit his voice and criticize the theory that hard/soft martial arts cannot be trained together. Jiumozhi is able to transmit his voice from a great distance, his internal energy must be deep and profound, the senior monks did not found it strange, however he is able to hear the discussion even though he is very far away, this kind of [Heavenly Connecting Ear Skill] is rarely seen in the world, everyone was equally startled and in awe, however they did not expect Jiumozhi to eavesdrop the conversation in the main hall and then run to a distant place to transmit his voice. Afterwards Jiumozhi use [Minor Formless Skill] as the foundation and executed [Vajra Fist], [Prajna Palm], [Mohe Finger] and other Shaolin supreme consummate skills, sure enough the crowd was scared into submission and he force abbot XuanCi to admit inferiority. Just as Jiumozhi was feeling smug, he did not expect Xu Zhu to suddenly appear out of the crowd of monks, unexpectedly Xu Zhu also knew [Minor Formless Skill] and used it against him.

Both their arms clashed and stir up the 'Chong meridian' and various acupoints, this is the weak point in Jiumozhi's internal energy, in a split second Jimozhi recalled the [Minor Formless Skill] manual he stole at Mantuo Manor, the collection is short of the 7th volume, he cannot help but break out in cold sweat. Jiumozhi is careful and meticulous, he will calculate and plan carefully while training, hence he is able to avoid all obstructions and pitfalls when practicing his skills, however when fighting with an opponent, the moves are fast as lightning, he have no time to think through carefully, both streams of [Minor Formless Skill] clash with each other, Jiumozhi did not master the 'Chong extraordinary meridian' contain in the 7th volume, unexpectedly the force in his arm was nullified by Xu Zhu's [Minor Formless Skill]. If [Minor Formless Skill] is fully mastered, even though its power is formidable but because the skill is termed [Minor Formless Skill], with emphasize on the word 'Minor', it clearly shows that the skill is merely an entry-level Taoist internal energy method, if the practitioner use it to power Taoist's martial arts he will find it smooth and easy, however when employed in other class of martial arts, it will inevitably fit like mortise and tenon, it cannot display its wonders. Moreover Jiumozhi's [Minor Formless Skill] is lacking the 7th volume, there is a flaw in his energy method, inevitably it pales in comparison against Xu Zhu's perfect and complete [Minor Formless Skill].

Xu Zhu's two fingers are under pressure, he cannot use 'Black Tiger Stealing Heart' anymore, he felt acute pain from his fingers, he involuntarily executed [Plum Breaking Hands Of Heavenly Mountain], his right wrist made a small turn, flip over and seize Jiumozhi's left wrist.

Jiumozhi was feeling happy as he manage to seize Xu Zhu's finger with a single move, unexpectedly his opponent manage to generate an extremely strange force and captured his own wrist in return. He had extremely profound knowledge of martial arts, however he have absolutely no idea on the origins of [Plum Breaking Hands Of Heavenly Mountain], his heart shivered with fear, his wrist felt as if it was locked by an iron hoop, he can no longer shake it off. Luckily Xu Zhu only seek to free himself in his panic-stricken state, he held firmly onto Jiumozhi's wrist and prevent him from breaking his fingers, he did not counterattack and grab Jiumozhi's meridian points. Thus due to Xu Zhu giving some leeway, Jiumozhi gathered his internal energy, he withdraw it slightly and suddenly send his energy bursting forth, Jiumozhi hope to split open the flesh between Xu Zhu's thumb and forefinger.

Xu Zhu felt his hands tingling, he is afraid his opponent might execute some ferocious technique if he release his grip, he hurriedly channelled his internal energy, his [Pure Energy of Northern Darkness] rush forth like a tide. Both Xu Zhu and Duan Yu's inner energy had the same origin, however unlike Duan Yu, Xu Zhu did not practice the method to absorb an opponent's internal energy, thus although he manage to grab Jiumozhi's wrist but he cannot absorb his internal energy. Jiumozhi channelled his internal energy 3 times but he still can't shake off Xu Zhu's grip, he cannot help but feel greatly astonished, his right hand formed a palm and hack towards the back of Xu Zhu's neck.

Jiumozhi is desperate, he did not think of using Shaolin's martial arts anymore, this hacking move is his own Tubo's martial arts. Xu Zhu executed a move from [Six Solar Palms Of Heavenly Mountain] with his left hand and neutralize Jiumozhi's palm move. Jiumozhi's second palm move arrived, Xu Zhu execute [Six Solar Palms Of Heavenly Mountain] continuously, one by one he neutralized all of his opponent's violent attacks.

Currently both of them are fighting in close proximity, their bodies touching, they can feel each others breath, while trading palm moves they only bend their arms or turn their elbows, their palm move is only 7-8 inch away from each other, although the distance is close but the palm force is extremely powerful. The sound of Jiumozhi's palm is like the wind beating, the crowd of monks felt as if his palm force is cutting their face, the chilling force of the palm invading their bodies, it is as if they are in the highest peak of snow mountain, gale blowing from all four sides. Gradually the lower generation monks cannot withstand it anymore, one by one they withdraw and move backwards and press their bodies against the wall. Senior monks from the Xuan generation are not afraid of the invasion of palm force, however they still channelled internal energy to protect their bodies.

One other thing... this chapter brings clarity to the relationship between Ding ChunQiu, Mdm Wang and Yu Yan and the tragedy that befalls Wu Yazi. It also explains Jiumozhi struggling with his pain and energy levels at a later stage. ... Something that the various TV series did not do well.

One other thing... this chapter brings clarity to the relationship between Ding ChunQiu, Mdm Wang and Yu Yan and the tragedy that befalls Wu Yazi. It also explains Jiumozhi struggling with his pain and energy levels at a later stage. ... Something that the various TV series did not do well.

Also, Minor Formless Skill was expounded. I do not recall if Minor Formless Skill was mentioned in the TV series. Further, I only assumed that XZ just learned some very advance fighting stances in the cave and JMZ just learned his "claim of knowing" the Shaolin 72 Consummate Skills from the stolen Shaolin book Murong Bo gave to him while being powered by his existing very high internal energy. And that, XZ just used the 3 Seniors internal energy (Pure Energy of the Northern Darkness) without any augmentation from some internal energy booster such as, the Minor Formless Skill.

Pretty good story. The part about dcq was also good. It Explained alot about his skills. He turns out to be more higly skilled each time even without his poisons. But even with the jade carvern manuals he was below a great level. I believe because he practised an unorthodox inner power skill that uses poison to boost his inner power and his inner reduces if he doesnt absorb enough poison, he could not master xyp higher level skills. He damaged his own progress with his unorthdox way. I think his teacher thought lqs would have taught him higher skill but she chased him off instead. Otherwise he could have passed his inner power to his first disciple who could have defeated him. Jmz maybe the best genious when it comes to learning martial arts. Except for superfreaks like duanyu and xuzhu and yet to come sweeper monk, hes unmatched.